


Bearing the Burden

by 852_Prospect_Archivist



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Challenge: Pooh Bear Challenge, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-10
Updated: 2013-05-10
Packaged: 2017-12-11 05:38:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/794495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/852_Prospect_Archivist/pseuds/852_Prospect_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim and Blair rescue a little girl, but it turns out the bad guy is still lurking in the woods.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bearing the Burden

OK, I had nothing better to do this afternoon, so I gave my first try at fan fiction. To warn you, I'm not good, and I have a very small ego, so please if you don't like it, hit delete quietly. I promise once Becca gets back the stories will be better. It's for the teddy bear challenge. 

Disclaimer: I don't own these guys, no money is being made, please don't sue 

Rating: PG I haven't even thought of doing a sex scene yet. 

## Bearing The Burden

by Marion Seaton  


"Everything is going to be OK." 

Blair Sandburg watched as his partner Jim Ellison tried to comfort the young child. Jim's senses had found the young girl, Sarah Collins, as she had huddled behind a tree. She was so cold the big detective had wrapped her up in his warm coat, and was now carrying her back to the truck. 

"She's a little shocky," Jim whispered to his partner. 

"Of course she is," Blair answered back, "Wouldn't you be if you were chased away from your home by a stranger? It's probably just as much emotional shock as it is physical." 

"Well everything is fine now," Jim said softly to both his guide and to the young girl, "We're going to get you home to your parents." 

The child's tear steaked face looked up at him, "It's not safe there," she whispered. 

"Shh," Blair soothed her, "Detective Ellison here will make sure you're safe." 

"You don't look like a police officer," she frowned over at Blair. 

"I'm not really," Blair smiled and reached out to touch her. She flinched and the grad student pulled his hand back, "I just work with them." 

She seemed satisfied with that, and buried her head back into Jim's shoulder. When they reached the truck, Jim tried to detangle her from himself so he could call their find in and drive them out of there, but she just wimpered and clung to him all the harder. 

"Sandburg run around back and grab out a Bobo for me, OK?" 

"A Bobo?" 

"Yeah, a...look, just open up the back, you'll see what I mean." 

Blair flipped the back of the Expedition open, and found a small box marked "Bobo" on it. Opening it, a smile came to his face. Inside the box were several teddy bears, perfect for calming a child's nerves. 

"One Bobo, coming up," he smiled as he showed the stuffed animal to the child. 

She immediately let go of Jim and wrapped her arms around the ball of fluff. 

"That's Bobo," Jim explained as he reached for his cell phone, "He's a police bear. He watches over little children and makes sure they're safe." 

"Kind of a sentinel bear," Blair added, and laughed as Jim shot him a dirty look. 

"Simon," Jim called into the phone, "Yeah, we found her. You still at the parent's home? We'll be right there." 

They loaded Sarah up into the truck and headed out of the forest. 

"You did real good keeping hidden," Blair praised the young child, "and you came a long way." 

"I just ran," Sarah cried, grasping the bear tightly. 

"Yeah well, you're a fast runner," Blairs voice held admiration, "Two of the best things you can do, run and hide." 

The young child's fingers ran over the bear's face and she nodded. Jim watched in amazement as his partner brought the child back from the brink of hysterics. He was always aastonished and perhaps even a little jealous at the way his partner could calm anyone down with mere words. 

Sarah was much more content by the time he had pulled in the drive of her family home. 

"Look who's here," Jim pointed to the girl's parents, who were rushing out to meet them. 

Sarah thrust her teddy bear into Blair's hands and ran out to her family. 

"This is what it's all about," Blair was grinning from ear to ear as he watched the reunited family. 

"No, what it's all about is catching the wierdo who chased her off," Jim said, "Come on Professor, help me look for clues." 

The two men circled the house and found Captain Simon Banks searching the area. 

"Ellison," Simon barked, "It's about time you got back," then more softly he added, "How is she doing?" 

"It'll take a while, but I think she'll be OK," Jim nodded, "Find anything here?" 

"We have some foot prints by the wood, and we found a crowbar by the girl's window, can't find any prints on it though," Simon began. then looked over at Blair,"Hey Sandburg, who's your friend?" 

Blair looked down at his hand and laughed, "It's my sentinel bear. I must have forgotten to leave it in the truck after Sarah handed it to me." 

"It's one of those Bobos that the Mothers Against Drunk Driving gave to us to help calm the kids down," Jim explained, "We gave it to Sarah, but it looks like Sandburg wasn't going to give it up." 

"Come on guys, you know I wouldn't take a teddy bear from a little kid," Blair defended himself, "She gave it to me, really." 

"Uh huh," Simon raised an eyebrow, then turned back to Jim, "She ran off that way, he came up from over there, followed her for quite a ways." 

"I'd like to follow his trail myself, sir," Jim offered, "See if it leads anywhere." 

Simon shrugged, "There's not much to go on here. I'll talk to the parents after everything's calmed down." 

"Come on Chief," Jim called out to Blair, "We're going back into the woods." 

Her trail was easy to follow, a young girl in panic did not try to hide her trackes. Jim kept up a pretty good pace until they came to a small river. 

"She crossed over there," Jim pointed to a sandbar the stretched halfway across the stream. 

"Why didn't she follow te river?" Blair wondered, "It's what I would have done. I would think it's a lot easier to travel along the banks." 

"If she knew the area, she would have know that the river goes over a good size cliff," Jim informed him, "Pretty waterfall, but an awful drop, doubt if a person could survive the fall." 

"So she kept to the woods," Blair looked at the forest on the other side of the flowing water. 

"Run and hide, the two best things she could have done," Jim made his way over to te sandbar, "He was still after her here," He pointed to the tracks. 

Both men waded across the cold water and tated up the bank. Jim scrambled up easily, and turned to give Blair a hand. 

"Why didn't you leave that bear with Simon?" he asked as he saw the stuffed animal in his partner's hand. 

"It's my sentinel bear," Blair teased, "Besides if I would have left it with Simon, I would have never heard the end of it. He would have shown it to all the guys, and I would have been ribbed about for weeks." 

Jim laughed and shook his head, "You'll never make it up the bank with that thing, come on, give me your hand." 

Blair reached out with his free hand and, keeping the bear out of the mud, dug the elbow of his other arm into the soft soil of the bank. He had almost made it to the top of the bank when a clump of dirt gave way under his left foot. Refusing to allow the bear to get dirty, Blair's face dropped into the damp earth. 

Jim burst into hysterical laughter at the sight fh partner's face covered in mud. 

"Laugh it up Ellison," Blair snarled, "At least I kept the bear clean." 

"Yeah, but you look like the creature from the black lagoon," Jim giggled. 

"Oh lovely," Blair's word were sarcastic as he rubbed his hand across his face, "You go on, I'm going to try and wash some of this off." 

"Ok, I'll go slow," Jim looked back at the forest, still grinning as he got up to follow the young girl's trail. 

Blair knelt down on a rock next to the river and cupped some water up in his hand. Splashing it on his face, he watched the first layer of mud drip down into the river. He repeated the process several times before the water ran clear. Looking around for something to dry his face off with, he spotted the teddy bear. 

"My face is clean," he said outloud to the inanimate object in his hand, "And you were partially responsible for this anyway. You'll dry." 

He stuck his face in the soft fur of the bear, rubing it around, trying to remove as much of the moisture as possible. While his face was stil buried in the bear, he heard approaching footsteps behind him. 

"Man Jim, I know what you're thinking, but I had to dry my face some..."he never finished his sentence. 

The blow to the back of his head caught him totally off guard, sending him to his knees. The world spun around him and he looked up to see a man standing over him with a stick raised for another strike. 

Something in him made him swing back, and he connected with something soft before pushing himself to his feet and taking off at a stumbling run. 

*Run, hide,* the two words echoed through his foggy mind, and he obeyed them, running with all the strength he had left. 

Jim spun around at the sound of his guide's pain filled cry. Panic filled him as he rushed back to the river. A man was trying to climb up the bank, and Jim recognized his scent as the man that had been stalking Sarah Collins. He grabbed him roughly and hauled him to the top of the bank. 

"Where's Blair," he shouted at the man, "Where's my partner!" 

The man gave a half hearted swing with his stick, but Jim back handed him, disarming him instantly. 

"You want to take her away from me," the man sobbed as his knees sagged out from under him. 

"Where is the other man," Jim snarled in the man's face, but recieved no reply except for sobs. 

"Damn you," Jim laid the man flat with one punch. 

Turning his senses up, he found Blair's trail as it lead along the river's edge. Fear took over as Jim realized his partner was headed downstream, taking the easiest path away from his attacker, the easiest path that lead to almost certain death.   
  


* * *

Blair was pushing his legs to move as fast as they could. His vision was blurred and somewhere in the back of his mind a logical piece of his perception told him he wasn't thinking straight. There would be time for that later, now all he needed to do was run and hide. 

The sound of the river seemed to be getting louder as he raced down it's edge. The pain in his head was begging him to stop, rest, put some of the cool water against the trobbing pain, but his fear pushed him on. 

Each step was a jarring agony to him. Each time he took one, he prayed there wouldn't be another, still his panic drove him on. Until there wasn't another foot fall. He knew he had made the step, but his foot did not come down on solid ground. Instead it sent him sailing through the air, tumbling downwards, his arms flailing. 

Blair landed hard, the air leaving his lungs. He lay there for a long time, trying to stop the agony that was coursing through his body. He tried to open his eyes, but something was wrong. The right one seemed not to obey his commands to open, something had glued it shut. His body refused to raise from it's prone position, each muscle had been pushed to its limit. 

The need to run and hide faded behind the need to rest and heal. He stopped trying to move and saught instead to find some comfort to cling to. 

He was gripping something soft and fuzzy in his hand, and he brought the object up to his face. He focused on the ball of fluff and felt some recognition wash over him. 

"My sentinel bear," his own soft words gave him comfort, "my...sentinel...bear..." 

He curled around the object and closed his eyes. He was safe now, his sentinel would watch over him, make everything right. He allowed himself to drift into unconsciousness, knowing he was protected. 

Jim followed the river as fast as he could. He could smell Blair's blood as he ran along, and his sentinel vision picked up drops of red every few feet. The young man wasn't bleeding that badly, but if he didn't stop soon, he would go right over the edge of the cliff. 

The roar of the falls was deafening to the sentinel, but he didn't need his hearing to know his guide had gone over. Blair's foot prints lead right up to the edge, and didn't return. 

"No," a whisper forced its way past Jim's lips, and he felt himself go weak in the knees. 

He could barely bring himself to walk over to the side of the cliff as a wave of hopelessness came over him. How could he go on with out his guide, with out his friend? There were so many things left unexplored between the two of them, and now...Now how was he suppose to exsist with out Blair? A numbness came over him as he walked to the brink of the cliff, his feet carrying him against his will. He forced himself to look over, already knowing in his mind what he would find. 

"Blair!" the word was torn out of him as he fell to his knees. 

His partner lay on a ledge about ten feet below him, and though he couldn't hear him over the roar of the falls, he could see the gentle rise and fall of his chest. 

"Blair," more of a sob than a word, the detective only allowed himself a moment of relief as he tried to find a way down to his injured partner. 

"Sandburg," he shouted as he lowered himself over the edge, "Sandburg, answer me." 

Blair was vaguely aware that some one was calling for him, but he curled even tighter around his protector. If he kept still, kept silent, he would be safe. Small stones rained down around him, and he tried to pull away from the tiny disturbances. 

"Don't move Blair," the voice called to him, "Just sit still buddy, I'm coming." 

"No," Blair whispered to his protector, "I have to hide...please...keep him away." 

The young man recieved no response, but he didn't worry, his sentinel would watch over him while he made his escape. Blair pulled himself up with his elbows, unable to find strength to move his legs. He needed a place to hide from the approaching danger. 

"God Blair," the words seemed laced with fear, "don't move, come on, wait for me." 

"Leave me alone," theinjured man called out, "I have a protector." 

"Blair, it's me. Jim. I need you to stay still, you're on a ledge, and you'll fall if you keep moving around," the voice was trying to confuse him. 

His protector was here, with him, not hovering above him. No, the voice wanted to hurt him, and he needed to get away from it. With the last of his strength, Blair rolled over, seeking safety from the threat above. 

Jim knew Blair was about to roll off the ledge he was perched on. The young man didn't seem to want to listen to him, if anything, his voice sent him closer to the edge. He watched in horror as Blair gave a last effort and swung himself over the edge. There was only one way to reach his partner in time, and Jim took it. He released his grip on the rock and jumped the last few feet to his guide's ledge. 

Jim's hand wrapped around Blair's wrist, and the big man braced himself against the steady pull of being taken over the edge with his partner. 

"I'm not losing you now Sandburg," he shouted as he tried to pull the smaller man back up to the ledge. 

"Stop it!" Blair screamed," Let me go! Some one help me!" 

"I am helping you," Jim ground out, "Now quit fighting me." 

Blair looked up into his tormentor's blue eyes as he wrestled fro his freedom. There was something familiar there, and his struggles slowed. 

"Jim?" he called to the man above him. 

"Yes Chief, it's me. Now give me your other hand," Jim was fighting to pull him back up. 

Blair looked down at his other hand and saw his protector. 

"I..I can't," he told Jim. 

"Blair, I can't pull you up with out your help. Now reach up here." 

"I'll drop him." 

"Do it then, damn it Sandburg." 

"I won't let him fall." 

"Drop the bear, come on kid, please help me here." 

"No, he's my friend, I'm not leaving my friend." 

"Blair, listen to me, it's just a stuffed bear, drop it," and when he recieved no answer, Jim shouted out the order, "Drop it!" 

"No," Blair shouted back, "He's my sentinel. He'd never leave me, we belong together. I'm not leaving him." 

Jim realized there would be no getting through to Blair's confused mind, and he had to find another way. 

"Fine Sandburg, hand him up," he watched as Blair hesitantly brought his arm up in an attempt to hand Jim the bear. 

With one quick move, Jim let go of Blair's wrist with one hand and caught the hand that held the bear. The sudden movement made Blair lose his grip on the stuffed animal, and it flew over the cliff before disapearing in the foaming waters below. 

"Nooo," Blair screamed as Jim was finally able to pull his partner back up to the safety of the ledge. 

"It's OK, Blair," Jim tried to sooth his struggling partner, "I'll get you a new one." 

"He was my friend, my life," Blair's head dropped to Jim's shoulder, "How...am I...suppose to...live without him." 

"Shhh, it will all work out in the end, " Jim could feel Blair's body going limp in his arms. 

"So many things...left to tell him," Blair's words were barely audible, "Never get the chance now." 

"I'm sure you can tell him later," Jim's hands ran down the young man's back. 

"Too...late," were the last two words Blair uttered before passing out. 

"It's never too late," Jim answered, "And I bet he's got a few things to say to you too." 

Carrying an unconscience Blair ten feet up the side of a cliff was probably one of the hardest things the detective had ever done, and he was exhausted by the time he made it up the side. Stumbling back up the river with his burden, he encounter Simon hand cuffing the suspect he had left beside the river. 

Simon took over Blair's care almost immediately after seeing how tired Jim was. He called for a med-flight rescue, and Blair was taken out by helicopter to a waiting hospital. 

By the time to the Cascade cops finally arrived, the you man had gone through the emergency room, and was resting comfortabely in a room. 

Jim opened the door, and looked in at the worried face of his partner. 

"What's up Chief?" He said softly, walking into the room with his hands behind his back. 

"Oh thank God," Blair's eyes lit up the moment he saw him, "I kept having these visions of you falling over a cliff. You're OK, aren't you?" 

"Yeah, I'm doing fine," Jim sighed, "And the doctors think you'll make it. We caught the suspect." 

"Is he the guy who hit me?" 

"Yep, he really knocked you for a loop." 

"I didn't do anything stupid, did I?" 

"Not too bad, you just tried to jumped off a cliff to get away from me." 

"I what?" 

"Not to metion you tried to drag us both over the edge to save that teddy bear of yours." 

"Oh no, oh, I'm so sorry Jim." 

"Actually I think it was kind of sweet. If I wasn't mistaken, you thought the bear was me." 

"I thought a stuffed bear was you?" 

"Sure seemed that way to me," Jim was grinning, "and I think you basically pledged your life to me." 

"Oh, I'm never going to live this down am I?" 

"Don't worry about it, Chief, I'm just happy that you're safe and on the mend. Oh by the way, here." 

He handed his guide a teddy bear. 

"I thought you said he went over a cliff." 

"He did, but you seem so attached to it, I gabbed one of Simon's." 

"Thanks Jim," Blair rolled his eyes, but tucked the bear into the crook of his arm. 

"You can tell him everything you're feeling." 

"OK, and do I guess what that means?" 

"Well, you told me there were so many things you wanted to tell that bear, now you can this one." 

Blair looked down at the stuffed animal he held cradled in his arm. 

"Unless you'd rather tell me." Jim smiled. 

"You know Jim, I think I would rather tell you." 

Jim sat down on the bed with a grin on his face and gave a silent word of thanks to that little bear who sacrificed itself by the falls. It had opened a pathway between his guide and him, a path that they were long over due to travel.   
  


* * *

Send comments to the author at shadowspirit@webtv.net .  
Use your browser's back feature to return to your story selections or start a [new search](http://b-b-t.mit.edu/SXF/cgi-bin/senslash/selections.cgi).


End file.
